Cancer Manigoldo
Cancer Manigoldo (蟹座のマニゴルド; Kyansā no Manigorudo; manigoldo is italian for "man of cruel nature") is the Gold Saint of Cancer during the 18th century. Story Past Manigold lived his life as a young street urchin in a poor village ransacked and destroyed by the war. As a child, he developed an extraordinary talent of being able not just to see, but also gather the souls of the dead. Unfortunately, living in poverty and a war stricken childhood left him jaded by life in general. To him, the concept of life - his and those around him - was no more than specks of dust hat could easily be blown away by a breeze. His experiences shown him that it would come and it would go without much significance. This was until he met Cancer Sage, the Pope of the Sanctuary. Investigating a village about a series of crimes being perpetrated by someone calling himself "The Executioner of Death", Sage was surprised to discover a young boy in filthy clothes sitting by the remains of a building. He noticed something peculiar about this child: there were literally a dozen souls surrounding his body, yet he did not show fear. The Pope took a moment to speak with this boy, and asked him his name. Suddenly, the child latched out at Sage with a knife and connected, tearing the Pope's holy garment and prayer beads to reveal the majestic Cancer Gold Cloth of underneath. Sage grabbed the boy and explained that his philosophies regarding life weren't inaccurate, just slightly misconstrued. Being a veteran and survivor of the last war, he himself had witnessed the lives of many of his friends and comrades extinguished. However, he understood that they had merely returned to the cosmos to be a part of a much grander design. As long as humans realized this, they would be capable of shining brightly and proudly. Manigold felt confused, but the single tear in his eye showed that he knew there was something in the Pope's words. Sage invited him to go to Sanctuary to learn more. The two developed a teacher/pupil relationship, and Manigold would manifest a powerful enough cosmos to earn the Cancer Cloth from his master. Holy War Some time after Taurus Rasgado had been murdered in a battle against two specters, Pegasus Tenma decided to leave the Sanctuary on a self-imposed exile. The specter Bennu Kagaho had appeared during the final moments of Taurus battle, and explained that the two specters who killed him were, in actuality, targeting the Pegasus. Kagaho warned the bronze saint that Pandora had made him a marked man, and his presence in Sanctuary will continue to cause those he associate with to pay with their lives. Taking Kagaho's words into consideration, Tenma grabbed his Pegasus Cloth and walked out of Sanctuary to avoid causing more unnecessary deaths among his peers. The Pegasus Saint was soon stopped by Manigold, decked out in his Cancer Cloth. Tenma explained that Rasgado's death was his fault, but the gold saint merely laughed at the idea. Manigoldo reminded him that they were living in a time of war. He was also well aware of the fact that Tenma and Alone used to be good friends, which, when factored into the equation, made the notion of exiling Pegasus from the Sanctuary to be a ridiculous and senseless idea. Refusing to allow the Saints to loose a valuable tool against Hades, the Cancer Saint grabbed Tenma and locked him away in a specialized holding cell. Eventually, Tenma would be freed from prison to join Crane Yuzuriha and Unicorn Yato as they journeyed into the Forest of Death, guarded by the specter Nasu Veronica. Once the specter proved to be too much for the three saints to handle, Manigold made his dramatic entrance. The crab and the fly traded blows, and the gold saint ended the exchange with his "Acubens" pincer hold that snapped the specter in half. Veronica survived, throwing away his torn robe to reveal his majestic surplice. Manigold decided to relocate the fight to the Underworld as spirits, and the specter obliged. To him, the Saint just made this battle suicidal by giving him the home field advantage. Manigoldo laughed, not only was he not intimidated by the Underworld like a dead soul would be, he viewed the entire place as his own playground. Using the surrounding souls to fuel his "Praesepe Demonic Blue Flames", the Saint of Cancer swiftly defeated Veronica, and proceeded to fight a bigger challenge: the god who commanded death itself, Thanatos. Thanatos Inside the Twin Gods Palace, Thanatos was engaged in a game of chess with his twin brother, Hypnos, while discussing the current events of the Holy War. Just as Thanatos prepared to make a move in his game, a figure clad in gold cloth crashed down onto the table from the ceilings above. Manigold, face to face with Thanatos, demanded to know which of the two was the one who commanded death, because he owed him a punch on the face. Still grasping the chess piece with his fingers, Thanatos revealed that it was he who the Cancer Saint was looking for. Manigold immediately responded with a straight hook, but the blow could not connect. The deity merely halted it with the same chess piece. Hypnos excused himself and attempted to warn Thanatos to be cautious before exiting. Amused that a human dared raise his fist at him, Thanatos brought the chess pieces to life and had them strike Manigold. Manigold fended off the challenge, and lounged towards the death god with the "Praesepe Demonic Blue Flames" technique, vowing to cremate his soul and everything he stood for. Unfazed, Thanatos summoned his holy kamui and ascended into the air. He began to transform the walls of the palace into a divine vortex, that only the gods could travel freely without combusting into specks of nothingness. The god of death forced Manigold forward into the deadly space. Suddenly, a voice declared that he would not allow Thanatos to act as he pleased. Surprised at the sight of a human walking freely among the vortex, the Greek god demanded the name of this invader. It was Sage, who had arrived to aid his pupil. The wise Sage, donned in full Pope garment, revealed that he had brought along Athena's seals with him. The blood written on them by the previous Athena blessed him to move around in the vortex. Thanatos scoffed at the thought of being fought with ancient pieces of papers, but Sage had a greater plan in his mind. Using the power of Athena, the elder undid the vortex and forced the palace to return. The God of Death accepted this challenge and conjured up souls in the form of tearful winged skulls using the divine "Tartarus Phobia" maneuver, and the souls quickly incapacitated both Manigoldo and Sage. The Pope was able to fend off the spirits with relative ease, and advised Manigoldo that the younger Crab was capable of doing the same, as well as utilize these souls to his advantage. The young crab immediately knew what his master was referring to, and merged the souls into one cohesive point. The floor beneath Thanatos' left foot exploded as Manigold gathered the spirits into a single "Praesepe Soul Burial Waves" attack. Starting to become irritated, the deity warned the two humans that it was unbecoming of them to act with such arrogance, as their lives were no greater than specks of dust. He then targeted Sage with his next technique: the "Terrible Providence", a magnificently charged ball of cosmos energy. Before Sage could be hurt, Manigoldo jumped in and took the blunt of the attack, his gold cloth breaking apart as a result. The gold saint felt vexation with being compared to specks of dust, at the same time recalling the memory of when he first met Sage as a boy, and employing similar vocabulary in their conversation. Sage nullified much of the power in the "Terrible Providence", saving his pupil from certain death. Manigoldo smirked, clamoring that he was still alive. His master scolded him for recklessly leaping into danger without precautions, and that he should have more reservations about throwing his life away. Manigoldo apologized, but proclaimed that even if the gods saw him as nothing more than a speck in life's designs, he will still do all he can to shine brightly. Unfortunately, "Terrible Providence" had taken its toll on the Cancer Saint, and he dropped to the floor, stunned. Thanatos attempted a second try with the technique, but found his power canceled out by the cosmos within Athena's seals. The god growled, he will not be foiled by some ancient notes! Thanatos lashed out at Sage, sending the elder saint to his knees while ripping nearly all of the seals to pieces. The God of Death slowly descended from above, and prepared another wave of the "Terrible Providence". Just as all hope seemed lost, the deity suddenly found himself struck in the face by Manigold, the Cancer Saint staggered back, but rejoiced that he had, at least, gave the commander of death a good punch to the face. Words could not express the rage Thanatos felt. He was overcome with infuriation at the fact that a pitiful human being had not only dared to hit him, but was in celebration over it. With the seals of Athena no longer in effect, the god once again transformed the palace into the deadly vortex, and pulled Manigoldo towards the void. Unable to defend himself, the gold saint found his entire right leg swallowed up by the nothingness, cloth and all. Sage retaliated with the Cancer Saint's signature attack, the "Praesepe Underworld Waves". The technique was able to strip off some of the Thanatos Kamui, which confirmed the suspicion that the Grand Pope had in his mind since the beginning of the fight, that, the god's true form was actually still residing in the Elysium Fields, and he was currently commandeering a puppet vessel with his holy soul. Thanatos was unimpressed, but Sage explained that the "Praesepe Underworld Waves" was a move that specialized in extracting souls out of the target's body. Unfortunately for the saints, Thanatos was a deity, after all, and drawing his spirit out would be an extremely difficult task. "Praesepe Underworld Waves" Just as Sage was about to give up, Thanatos felt a second tug, from an exhausted but still alive Manigold. The young crab expressed that he always had a strong distaste for the god of death since he was a kid, and the punch to the face earlier was easily the most satisfying thing he had ever felt in his entire life. Manigold then thanked his master for the times they spent together, he was truly grateful that he chose to go to the Sanctuary with him. With both Cancer Saints smirking ear to ear, the two unleashed a combined effort of the "Praesepe Underworld Waves" technique. Even a powerful god like Thanatos could not drive the two saints back. With all of Thanatos' Kamui, and in turn, his source of power, removed from his puppet body, Manigold latched onto the god by the throat and declared that without the holy soul blessing his vessel, the both of them would now become dust. The Cancer Saint ordered his gold cloth to return to its rightful owner, and then combusted along with Thanatos' body. Sacrifice Back in the Sanctuary, Athena and Hakurei were both present in the Pope's throne room. They felt a surge of cosmos, and discovered the small chest containing Thanatos' soul upon the seat. Hakurei recognized it instantly, and knew that his younger brother was no longer with them. Athena expressed her gratitude for Sage's sacrifice, and Hakurei assured her and his departed brother that he would complete the duties they had set for themselves. At the twelve temples below, Aries Shion also sensed the cosmos and prepared to move to the Pope's room to check things out. He was stopped by Manigold on the way, who looked up to the sky and greeted his fellow gold saint with a smirk. The Cancer Saint held the Grand Pope's holy headdress in his arms, and tossed it to Shion. It was a gift between the both of their masters. Manigoldo then vanished from view, leaving the Cancer Cloth behind in the temple. Shion realized that he had just met with Manigold's spirit. Techniques *'Praesepe Underworld Waves:' the Cancer Saint rips the soul residing within an individual's body and transfers it to a location of his choosing (usually the Underworld). *'Praesepe Demonic Blue Flames:' a blue will-o-the-wisp is summoned in the palm of Manigold's hands, and the fireball incinerates all souls in the immediate area. *'Praesepe Soul Burial Waves:' gathers any and all souls surrounding one's own body and combines them into one single deadly explosive attack. *'Soul Explosion:' lesser version of the Praesepe Demonic Blue Flames technique. It was used on Nasu Veronica's flies. *'Acubens:' a physical move. The Gold Saint latches his legs upon an opponent and pinches them in half. Gallery ManigoldManga.jpg|In the manga Category:Saints Category:Gold Saints